Food and Landscape: Recipes from an Armenian – Turkish Banquet

The Saturday evening dinner at the 2017 Symposium was ‘Landscape: Compliments of the Soil – Flavours from the Armenian and Turkish Borderlands organized by Gamze Íneceli and Íhsan Karayazi in association with the MSA the Culinary Arts Academy.

The MSA Academy of Istanbul have generously shared their recipes for Chard Leaves Stuffed with Emmer and Sour Cherries; Barlotti Bean Puree with Pickled Carrots and Pastirma and Aubergine, Courgette and Strained Yogurt with Lavash Crisps.

Tomato sauce: Simply combine the tomato sauce and chicken stock. Bring to boil and strain through a chinois. Season with salt and pepper.

Fried Shallots: Soak the shallots overnight in milk. Next day, dredge them in flour and deep fry until golden brown. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Dolma: To make the filling, sautee the onions and sugar in a shallow pot. Let caramelize on a very low heat for about 40 minutes. Toast the pine nuts in a separate frying pan, without oil until golden brown. As the onions take on a deep caramel colour, add the pine nuts, the spices and stir. Continue by adding the emmer, dried cherries and chicken stock. Cover the lid and cook on a low heat, for about 15-20 minutes, until the bulgur is flaky, and all the liquid has been absorbed. Let cool in its own pot for about 2 hours. Open the lid and add the herbs and patience dock, mix well.

The bulgur should be a bit sticky when squeezed in your hand. Cut out the stem of the chard leaves, taking care not to damage the leaf.

Stuff and wrap the leaves with the filling. Place the Dolmas in an oven dish, side to side and close to each other, so that they are tight and don’t get damaged. Pour the tomato sauce over the Dolmas, and make sure the sauce covers them half way through. Bake in a 120°C oven for about 40 minutes. When serving, drizzle with tomato sauce and top with onion crisps.

Barlotti Bean Puree: Sautee the onions until translucent. Add the beans, water, sugar, salt, pepper and bring to boil. Simmer over low flame for 1 – 1.5 hours until the beans are fully cooked. If necessary, add water. Strain and cool the beans in iced water. Puree in a food processor, with olive oil. If needed, add water to adjust the thickness of the puree. Ideally, it should have a smooth, silky, hummus like consistency. Season with salt and white pepper. Add dill and thyme when it cools to room temperature.

For service: Spread the bean puree in a semi deep dish, making a hollow centre. Place the carrots in the middle. Top with Pastirma. Drizzle more olive oil all around. Sprinkle dill sprigs, chives, red pepper, and more micro greens. Serve at room temperature. If Turkish Pastirma is not available, bresaola is a wonderful substitute.

Tomato sauce: Sautee the garlic and onions with white wine. Reduce 90%. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the herbs. Simmer approximately 2 hours, until the sauce gets a nice consistency. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the tomatoes in a food mill. Add the herbs and set aside.

Yogurt mixture: Blend all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If a deep smoked flavour is desired, the yogurt can be smoked for 2 minutes with an instant smoker.

Vegetable mixture: Coat the zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant with flour. Deep fry separately until golden brown. Pat dry on paper towels. Repeat the same procedure with the potatoes without coating. Keep every vegetable separate, until service time.

For service: Combine the vegetables and add the tomato sauce. Place the yoghurt in the middle of the plate. Put the vegetables on top. Garnish with parsley, chives, lemon zest and lavash crisps. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and serve.